Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Science Proves That Dad Bellies & Weight Gain are Real

Evidently, science just proved that dad bellies are indeed a real thing, and are close to impossible to avoid.

I know that in my case, during both the pregnancy and once I actually became a father, there indeed was quite a bit of weight gain, mostly all around the midsection (the gut).

A couple of years later, however, I was able to lose weight - a lot of it! Roughly around 40 pounds.

Right now, I am trying to lose weight again. And in that spirit, it seemed appropriate to publish this blog entry about dad bellies, as well as a site that discusses specifically which foods to avoid at all costs when trying to lose weight.

Below is a helpful link that warns you of foods to avoid when you are trying to lose weight.

I know sometimes these websites that force you to keep pursuing the arrows tend to be slow and annoying, and can often be difficult to complete if your computer is not up to the task. So, I wrote a brief summary of all of the foods mentions, and the reasons for it:

Creamy salad dressings (Caesar, Ranch, and blue cheese - my personal favorite - are mentioned by name), chips (recommended instead are peanuts or walnuts, which have Omega-3 fatty acids), white bread (they recommend whole-grain bread instead), coffee creamer (skip the cream and sugar, they recommend black coffee or switching to tea), white rice (for many of the same reasons as white bread, so choose brown or whole grain rice instead, which have more nutrients and less filler), high fructose corn syrup (an artificial sweetener found in numerous processed foods, and they recommend more natural things, such as all natural sugar), diet soda (this one I have seen time and time again, and surely a lot of people have, as well - some studies suggest this is worse for you than regular soda, and they recommend drinking water instead), canned fruit (this one admittedly came as a surprise - but they state that these have heavy syrups and are often very sugary, so they recommend in season fruits), alcohol (unnecessary calories), frozen dinners (they recommend steering clear of all frozen dinners - including the ones specifically labelled as healthy, because of all the added chemicals), snack packs (because these are essentially just junk food), sugar free (what this actually means are sugar alternatives, which tend to be worse, sometimes far worse, than real sugar, and they recommend real sugar in moderation instead), protein bars (mostly you have to be careful to read the label to make sure that it has at least 10 grams of protein and at least 350 calories if it is replacing a meal), vegetable juice (some have salt or sugar to make the taste more agreeable, and they recommend 100% juice), processed foods (everything processed will hinder weight loss, and they recommend staying away from it), bagels (they have high glycemic index, which releases glucose very quickly into your bloodstream), cereal (even non-sugary cereals might have sugar in them, so you need to scrutinize the labels very carefully), margarine (because it is loaded with trans fat, which is very unhealthy, and they recommend also steering clear of pastries, which are often made from margarine), jarred tomato sauce (sugar is often added to neutralize the acidity, soy sauce (loaded with sodium which will make you feel bloated and retain liquids), ice cream (very good, but very fatty, and we all knew that, right?), store bought smoothies (rarely use real fruit and usually add a ton of sugar, and they recommend that you specifically ask for fresh fruit), pasta (loaded with carbs, fat, and calories), fries (just 10 fries contain 4 grams of fat).